Player Guide · How to use the app
Getting Started My Events Parking Registering 5th Player Rule Schedule Live Round Scorecards Results Notifications Troubleshooting
👤
Step 1
Getting Started
App header
⚙️
ℹ️
🔕
BH
Your initials pill — tap to select your name from the player list
🔕 Bell — tap to enable push notifications
ℹ️ — About, notification settings, app info
Open the portal Go to birdiefriends.com/portal.html in your browser, or tap the BirdieFriends icon on your home screen if you've installed it.
Select your name Tap the initials pill in the top-right corner (shows BH or "Guest"). Pick your name from the list. The app needs this to personalize your event feed.
Install to your home screen For the best experience — and to receive push notifications — add BirdieFriends to your home screen. See iPhone instructions below.
Enable notifications Tap the 🔕 bell icon in the header and allow notifications. You'll get live birdie alerts, CttP updates, and event news from the Commissioner.

🍎 iPhone — install first, then enable notifications

  1. Open birdiefriends.com/portal.html in Safari (not Chrome)
  2. Tap the Share button at the bottom of Safari (□↑)
  3. Scroll down and tap "Add to Home Screen"
  4. Tap Add — the green BirdieFriends icon appears on your home screen
  5. Open BirdieFriends from the home screen icon, select your name, then tap the 🔕 bell
⚠️ iPhone note: Push notifications only work when BirdieFriends is opened from the home screen icon — not from Safari. Skip this step and you won't get Birdie Alerts or CttP updates during the round.
Step 2
My Events — Your Home Screen
Event card
2026 BFSeries#3
📅 Sat, May 31 · 7:06 AM
📍 Blue Slide Golf Club
BF Series
✅ Register
🔄 Register as Sub
👥 Players › (5 going) tap to expand ↓
Event name, date, and location at a glance
Green Register button — tap to confirm your spot
Register as Sub — joins the waitlist if the event is full
Players › — tap to see who's registered

🆕 New Events button

When new events are added to the calendar, a gold 🆕 N button appears in the header. Tap it to open your New Events queue — a focused view of new additions only. Register, park, or scroll past. Tap ✓ Done when finished.

Tip: Events you've registered for stay pinned to My Events permanently. Events you're not interested in can be swiped left to Parked to clear the clutter.
🅿️
Step 3
Parking Events You'll Skip
Swipe left to park
🅿️ Park
Sat 5/30 — BSGC Individual Play ← swipe
Swipe left on any event card → moves to Parked tab

👈 How to park an event

Can't make it to a round? Swipe left on the event card. The card slides off and moves to your Parked tab. You'll see a brief Parked ✓ confirmation with an Undo option — tap it within 4 seconds if you swiped by mistake.

🅿️ The Parked tab

Parked events live in the Parked tab in the bottom nav. They're still fully actionable — you can register from there anytime, which automatically brings the event back to My Events.

Note: You can't park an event you're already registered for. Unregister first, then swipe to park.
Step 4
Registering for Events
After registering — your card looks like this
2026 BFSeries#3
📅 Sat, May 31 · 7:06 AM
📍 Blue Slide Golf Club
✅ Going
❌ Can't Make It — Unregister
👥 Players › (6 going) you're in this list

🏌️ Register to play

Tap the green Register button on any event card. Your status changes to ✅ Going and the event stays pinned to My Events.

🔄 Register as Sub

If an event is full, you'll see Register as Sub. You're on the waitlist. If a spot opens, watch for a push notification — you'll be promoted automatically.

❌ Unregister

Plans changed? Tap Unregister on the event card or the "Can't Make It" button in your Schedule tab. Please unregister early so others can take your spot.

👥 See who's playing

Tap Players › on any event card to see the full registered player list, including anyone on sub status.

Important
The 5th Player Rule
What you see when you're the 5th player
BSGC Individual Play
📅 Sat, Jun 7 · 7:00 AM
⏳ Spot not yet confirmed — waiting for a 6th player
❌ Can't Make It — Unregister
👥 Players › (5 going)

⏳ The 5th Player — Read This

BirdieFriends events are organized in groups of 4. If you're the 5th player to register for an 8-player event, your spot is tentatively held — not yet confirmed.

Your spot locks in automatically when a 6th player registers, completing the second group. Until then, your event card shows a gold ⏳ Spot not yet confirmed warning.

⚠️ Always check the player count on your event card before heading to the course. If you're still showing as the 5th player, contact the Commissioner.

Tip: BF Series events don't have this limitation — they use a flexible grouping system. The 5th player rule applies only to standard 4-player group events.
🗓️
Step 5
Your Schedule
🗓️ Schedule tab
MAY31
2026 BFSeries#3
✅ Going
❌ Can't Make It — Unregister
JUN7
BSGC Individual Play
🔄 Sub

🗓️ What you're committed to

The Schedule tab shows only events you've registered for, in date order. Each row shows your status (✅ Going or 🔄 Sub) and a full-width Unregister button.

Tap the top portion of any row to jump directly to that event card on My Events.

Tip: Check your Schedule the night before any weekend — it's the quickest way to confirm everything you've committed to.
Step 6
During a Live Round
Live event panel — tap the banner to expand
⚡ Live Now — 2026 BFSeries#3
Tap to open live features ↓
🦅 Birdie Alert 🎯 Closest to Pin 🏁 End Round
🦅 Birdie Alert
🦅 Made a Birdie? Announce It
Select your name → pick hole → Announce
🎯 Closest to the Pin — Active Holes
Hole 3
Hole 8
Hole 10
Hole 15
Hole 18
🎯 Hole 8 🏆 Brian H · 12 ft
🎯 Hole 3 🏆 Adam C · 18 ft
🏁 After the round
🏁 End Round — Enter Scorecards
Gold banner only appears for registered players — guests won't see it
Tap a hole pill to submit your CttP distance on that hole
CttP leaderboard auto-refreshes every 60 seconds

🦅 Birdie Alert

Made a birdie? Tap Birdie Alert, select your name, tap the hole number, and tap Announce. A push notification fires to all BirdieFriends — the community celebrates with you. If someone already birdied that hole, the app announces the skin is busted.

🎯 Closest to the Pin (CttP)

On designated holes (#3, #8, #10, #15, #18), tap the hole pill, enter your distance in feet (optional), and tap Closest on #X. The live leaderboard updates immediately and a push goes out announcing the new leader.

Last valid submission per hole wins. Honor system — submit your own distance, not a teammate's. The leaderboard refreshes every 60 seconds.

Note: Uncontested CttP holes (only one entry, or no entries) roll into skins. CttP and skins are independent of each other.
🏁
Step 7
End Round — Scorecards

🏁 Who enters scorecards?

Each group's overseer (designated by the Commissioner before the round) enters scores after play is complete. Tap End Round — Enter Scorecards in the live panel to open the scorecard entry form.

📋 How to enter scores

For each player, select their result on each hole using the dropdown. You're entering Stableford points — not stroke scores. Use the chart below:

Result Points Notes
🦅 Birdie 4 The goal!
🏌️ Par 2 Solid result
Bogey 1 1 over par
Bogey+ (Double or worse) 0 No points
🦅🦅 Eagle 6 2 under par
🦅🦅🦅 Albatross 8 3 under par
Note: Enter points — not strokes. A 4 on a par-3 is a Bogey (1 point), not entered as "4". When in doubt, ask the Commissioner.
🏆
Step 8
Results

🏆 After the round

Tap Results in the bottom nav for links to:

  • 📊 Series Standings — your flight ranking and series totals
  • 📋 Event Results — individual event scorecards
  • 👤 My Game — your personal history across all events
  • 👥 Groupings — your tee time and playing partners (published before each event)

👥 Finding your Groupings and Tee Time

The Commissioner publishes groupings before each event. Tap Results → Groupings to see your tee time, playing partners, and cart assignments. Check this the night before or morning of the event.

📊 Series Standings

The BF Series tracks points across all Series events in three flights: Green, Combo, and Gold. Standings update after each event is scored. Find your ranking in Results → Series Standings.

🔔
Step 9
Notifications

🔔 What you'll receive

  • 🦅 Birdie alerts during live events
  • 🎯 New CttP leader announced on each hole
  • 📣 Commissioner messages — schedule news, reminders
  • 🎉 Sub promotion when a spot opens for you

🔕 Toggle notifications

Tap the bell icon (🔔 or 🔕) in the header anytime. You can also manage notifications in About (tap the ℹ️ icon). When you enable notifications, a push subscription is stored under your name so the Commissioner can reach you directly.

iPhone reminder: You must open BirdieFriends from the home screen icon (installed as PWA) to receive push notifications. The Safari browser tab will not receive them.

🔧
Troubleshooting
❓ I don't see the live banner during the event
The live banner only appears for registered players. Check that you're registered for the event (your card should show ✅ Going) and that you've selected your name (initials pill top-right). If you're registered and still don't see it, close and reopen the app.
❓ I'm not getting push notifications
iPhone: Make sure you opened the app from your home screen icon, not Safari. Then tap the 🔕 bell and allow notifications. Android: Tap the bell, allow notifications if prompted. If the bell shows 🔔 but you still get nothing, tap it twice to reset your subscription.
❓ I can't find my name in the player list
You need to be a registered BirdieFriends member to appear in the list. Contact the Commissioner to get added — it only takes a minute.
❓ My event disappeared from My Events
You may have accidentally swiped it to Parked. Tap the 🅿️ Parked tab in the bottom nav and check there — you can register or unpark it from there.
❓ Register button isn't showing
If the event is within 48 hours and has more than 4 players registered, registration locks to allow group management. Contact the Commissioner directly to be added.
❓ Something else isn't working
Text the Commissioner: 617-710-4755. For a quick fix, try pulling down to refresh or closing and reopening the app from the home screen icon.

Quick Reference

📱 Header icons

⛳ Logo — tap to return to My Events + scroll to top
⚙️ — Commissioner admin only
ℹ️ — About + notification settings
🔔/🔕 — toggle push notifications
BH pill — tap to select your player name

⛳ Bottom nav

⛳ My Events — home screen, all upcoming events
🅿️ Parked — events you've swiped away
🗓️ Schedule — events you're registered for
🏆 Results — results, standings, groupings, my game

👈 Gestures

Swipe left on an event card → park it
Tap logo → return to My Events + scroll top
Tap "N parked →" → jump to Parked tab
Tap live banner → expand/collapse live panel